God’s Kingdom is Like…
Today we introduce our new series: God’s Kingdom is Like…
This series will examine a few of the parables from Jesus that begin with the phrase “God’s kingdom is like…” Together, we’ll read these texts with the voice and audience of the author in mind as we listen for the hope and truth Jesus shares through his words about the Kingdom of God and construct our own understandings of what the Kingdom of God is and how we are called to participate in its construction. We will be in this series until ‘Christ is King’ Sunday, which happens halfway through November.
Our series begins with one of Jesus’ parables about God’s Kingdom from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is considered to be the ‘most Jewish’ Gospel as he cites the old testament more often than any other Gospel writer. It is believed that Matthew’s intended audience was the Jewish people living in the years following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension as he regularly cites the Hebrew Scriptures to explain what is happening with Jesus in the New Testament.
This particular passage does not cite the Old Testament but it does show Jesus drawing on a well known metaphor from the Old Testament, which is that of God’s vineyard found in Isaiah 5:1-7. Unlike Isaiah, which focuses on the fruit produced from the vineyard, this parable focuses on laboring in the vineyard. May our reading and exegesis lead us to a greater understanding of God’s kingdom, our role in creating it, and the grace God extends us all.
All of a Day’s Work
“God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.
“Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
“He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’
“They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
“When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’
“Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’
“He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’
“Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
Matthew 20:1-16 MSG
Commentary
One key correction in this translation: the workers did not receive a dollar a day – which would be very little by modern American standards – but a denarius, which was fair pay for a day of labor. It’d be more accurate to say that they received $100 each, which matters only because it’s crucial to emphasize that this parable about God’s kingdom cites God paying a fair amount to those who worked all day. No one is being short changed or stiffed in the Kingdom of God. Now, onto the commentary.
The parable tells of the hiring of sets of workers throughout the day. One set was hired at dawn, one in the mid morning, one halfway through the day, and one as the day of work was winding down, and yet one more as dusk approaches. The negotiated pay for the first group – who worked all day – was fair pay for one day of labor. We are not told of the pay to which the other workers agreed.
When it comes time to pay the workers, the estate manager gives everyone the same day’s wages – even though they worked for vastly different periods of time in vastly different circumstances. When challenged by those who worked the longest, the estate manager explains that they can do whatever they wish with their own money – their generosity is their own business, and not reason for those who worked the longest to get upset.
Often, this parable is interpreted as communicating that it is never too late to begin laboring for God’s kingdom, never too late to become Christian, because we will all receive the same reward no matter how long we’ve been working nor under what circumstances we worked. And that is a fair interpretation, but it puts the main point of the parable as the way that the pay works, and Jesus does not say the kingdom of God is like the way the estate manager pays the laborers, but like the estate manager themself.
See, Jesus begins by saying: The Kingdom of God is like an estate manager… meaning, the labor and pay was never the primary point of this metaphor, but rather the estate manager – the way they hire, the way they negotiate, the way they treat all those who are hired to labor in the vineyard. If we simplify this to only the question of pay, we miss half the parable.
The estate manager hires the workers who are there early in the morning – those looking to seize the day, to make the most of their abilities in service of others, those who would be hired quickly and easily for their abilities and skills. These are the joyful morning risers, those capable of anything to which they put their minds. The estate manager hires them.
Next, he hires a group at about 9 AM. These would be older skilled workers who did not have the energy to be up working at the crack of dawn but could still work through the heat of the day. They may not have the youthful energy of those hired early in the morning, but they’d make up for it with skill and steadiness. They’re hired, too.
The next group is hired about noon. These would be the lazier young people. Folks who wanted to sleep in, who needed extra time to get their energy flowing. The folks who show up at noon to be hired are folks who wanted to stay in bed all day but needed to find something to do to earn enough money for their food. They’re not the hardest workers, but they’re capable enough. The estate manager hires them, too.
The people who show up at the hiring post at 3 or 5 pm are the least able of their communities. They may have disabilities or be quite elderly. They would be the “last choice” of people to labor in a vineyard doing physically demanding tasks, yet the estate manager says: ‘you’re hired, too.’
Jesus goes on to call this the great reversal. This idea of the last being first and the first being last is echoed throughout the gospels – particularly the gospel of Luke – and it further emphasizes the hiring practices of the parable. Those hired last – those seen as least capable, least diligent, least energetic – are paid the same as everyone else. Maybe even for doing less work with poorer quality, they receive the same amount as those who worked hard all day, and they are paid first. This is the great reversal in action.
So this parable is not just about the grace extended in the reward given for laboring in the vineyard, but also about the way that the estate manager hires all sorts of people and workers, the hardworking, the late risers, the old, the young, those of all abilities and purposes. It’s as much about welcome and inclusion as it is about grace, and it tells us that the Kingdom of God is like this estate manager who hires anyone willing to work at any point in the day and gives them all the same reward.
The Kingdom of God is like an estate manager who hires all peoples and pays generously. The Kingdom of God is inclusive and countercultural, generous in its welcome and generous in its grace. We are called to be co-laborers with Christ in the building of this Kingdom.
Oh, how I hope we’ll see it someday.
Questions
What hope does this parable provide to people who discover the Truth of Jesus late in life? What hope does it give to those who feel like they’ve wasted their lives or are unworthy of grace and love? How can you share this message of hope with people in your life?
How important is Grace in constructing the Kingdom of God? Is it present in who is invited? Is it present in how those laboring for it are rewarded? How can we share this grace with more people as we invite more people into the Church to work towards building up the Kingdom of God with us?
Asked another way: Which kind of worker are you? What is your attitude towards the other workers? How can you learn from the generous grace of the estate manager in your treatment of others in the Kingdom?
The Great Reversal refers – in part – to the way that God’s values, plans, or actions are in direct opposition to the values, plans, and actions of the world. In this parable, the great reversal has to do with ability, will to work, and payment; what other stories of great reversal do you remember from the Bible? Where might the Church of today be called to make this great reversal from the world’s cultural values to God’s values? Are we living into that Great reversal?
A Blessing for Your Week
Child of God,
If you’ve been at this Kingdom work for a while,
May you labor in the hot sun and not grow weary
If your call to labor is fresh,
May you learn the techniques of Kingdom love
That your work may be done with ease and skill
If you’re being hired right now,
May you join those already at work
Bringing strength and energy to all around you
And no matter how long your labor,
How scorching the heat,
How difficult the ground,
May you produce good fruit
May your harvest be bountiful
May the Kingdom grow through you
And around you such that
All are welcome
And All are loved.
Amen.
Rev. Kelsey Sherazi 